Tornado Risk in Union County, IN
How likely is a tornado in Union County, IN?
3 tornado tracks have crossed Union County since 1955 by NOAA's count, roughly one every 25.6 years - the Minimal band on this site's scale. That is the 10th percentile nationally for tornado frequency. Among 92 Indiana counties in this dataset, Union County ranks 92 for how often a tornado touches down.
The number that matters more than frequency
No violent (EF4-5) tornado has been recorded in Union County in NOAA's 76-year database. Of its 3 recorded tracks, 1 were weak (EF0-1) and 2 significant (EF2-3).
Shelter and safe-room economics
Indiana's Indiana Department of Homeland Security's Residential Safe Room Program is the number that matters for a Union County homeowner: 75% of an approved shelter, capped at $5,000, cutting the typical $2,890-$13,280 national range to about $722.5-$8,280 net.
Power after the storm, not just shelter during it
The storm that misses Union County outright can still take its power out - outbreak-scale outages across Indiana are common well beyond the tracked path. A battery-backup unit handles that without a generator's setup or fuel.
What Union County's figure does not tell you
Union County's figure is county-wide, not address-specific. Union County covers about 161 square miles, so a single touch here counts the same as a single touch in a county a fraction of that size. NOAA also documents that older records undercount weaker tornadoes from before Doppler radar became standard. Union County has about 6,884 residents.